Tim Farrell/The Star-LedgerFans file into the Izod Center in April 2010. An appellate court ruled this morning that the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority cannot keep its deals with Bruce Springsteen and other major entertainers a secret.

EAST RUTHERFORD — Last month, rap stars Jay-Z and Kanye West rocked the Izod Center before a raucous, capacity crowd.

But the deal that brought the famed hip-hop duo to the state-operated arena in East Rutherford was kept confidential. The split with promoters over parking and concessions, not revealed. How much, if anything, the state took from the sold-out concert — not disclosed.

Today, a state appellate court ruled that the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority can no longer keep its contracts for entertainment and concert events — ranging from Jay-Z, Britney Spears and Bruce Springsteen, to Glee and the Harlem Globetrotters — a secret.

The decision handed The Star-Ledger a sweeping victory in a costly two-year court battle, one of the longest fights over public records the state has ever seen.

The three-member appeals panel accepted the newspaper’s contention that the public had a right to know how the agency was spending public funds to lure big acts to the 30-year-old arena in the Meadowlands operated by the authority.

The state authority had maintained that release of the details of its contracts with concert and event promoters under the Open Public Records Act would put it at a competitive disadvantage against other entertainment venues, like the Prudential Center in Newark. The agency also said publication of such details would discourage major entertainers from performing at Izod.

The judges rejected the argument.

"The agreements are contracts for lease of a state-owned facility," said the panel, in a unanimous opinion. "The fact the leases involve well-known entertainers will not shroud them in confidentiality."

The court also ruled that the authority must pay legal fees run up by both sides, which have already reached over $500,000 — including $362,000 spent to date by the sports authority.

Kevin Whitmer, editor of The Star-Ledger, called it a good day for New Jersey residents. "The court affirmed the public’s basic right to openness in government," he said. "It’s regrettable that the battle for documents the paper was always entitled to has taken so long."

Authority chairman Mike Ferguson would not say if his agency would seek further appeal to the state Supreme Court.

"The NJSEA and its attorneys will fully review this disappointing decision. We consider it not to be reflective of the clear language of the OPRA statute to which the NJSEA has fully complied," Ferguson said in a statement.

He said from its inception, the sports authority has been charged by the state to compete in the entertainment marketplace. "We cannot do that if our contracts are available to competitors like privately-owned arenas," he said. "That is why the OPRA law has an exception for disclosures that would place us at a competitive disadvantage."

Ferguson added that the decision "may well hinder the on-going efforts to explore privatizing the facility."

The Christie Administration has been seeking to take the state out of the entertainment business and said it is looking at ways to privatize or possibly sell Izod. The sports authority last year reported the arena had a net income of $2.1 million, representing $30.7 million in revenue against $28.6 million in expenses.

The sport authority’s entertainment contracts were first sought by the newspaper in March 2009, as part of an examination of the finances of the financially ailing Meadowlands.

But the authority provided only redacted documents blacking out everything from how much the state received to book the circus, to fees charged for college graduation ceremonies.

After the newspaper filed suit, Superior Court Judge Claude M. Coleman in October 2010 ordered the contracts be released, finding the "public’s right to know was paramount" in a ruling that said the sports authority had violated the open records statute.

The authority appealed the ruling. In filings with the court, the sports authority, which operates the Izod Center, maintained that the public’s interest was served by maintaining the confidentiality of its entertainment deals, claiming the need to remain "competitive in the market and continue to generate profits for the state."

The newspaper, which was represented by Keith Miller of the Newark law firm of Robinson, Wettre and Miller, argued that the state had no legal authority to withhold contractual information from public disclosure.

In a 47-page ruling handed down by Judges Mary Catherine Cuff, Marie E. Lihotz and Alexander P. Waugh Jr., the appellate panel said the authority failed to make a case for securing secrecy.

"The release of unredacted contracts between defendant and promoters allows full public scrutiny of the proper use of government facilities," said the panel.

It said disclosure of the terms of the contracts was mandated by New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act.

"Allowing examination of the government contracts is designed to dispel rumors of possible preferential treatment or untoward favoritism at the public’s expense, and also permits the public to monitor the efficient allocation of the state’s limited resources," the judges wrote.